The Arizona Cardinals quarterback said he knew his end-zone pass, which targeted Detroit's Bill Bentley, would work because the Lions' defensive backs play the man and not the ball.

Bill Bentley tries to recover after getting beat, then drawing a flag for pass interference last week against Arizona's Andre Ellington.Associated Press

Detroit defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham took exception to that statement during a media session after Friday's practice.

"That's a great line by those guys," he said, tongue firmly in cheek. "Last I checked, when you play man-to-man, you play through the man. If you see the ball, you're going to get beat.

"Their point is we're looking at the man, not the ball. Well, whoever said it isn't very bright. To me, that's how you play man-to-man. You strip the ball. You work through the keys -- sometimes their eyes, sometimes their hands when they extend -- that's how you play it. If someone can show me something different, I'd like to see it."

Palmer's criticism came after Arizona's 25-21 win Sunday against Detroit. He set up Rashard Mendenhall's game-winning touchdown run by throwing to receiver Andre Ellington in the end zone.

Bentley was in coverage, with his back to Palmer, and committed an obvious pass interference penalty after falling behind Ellington.

"It's something we've talked about a lot," Palmer told reporters after the game. "Those DBs play the receiver. They don't play the ball. When we have opportunities and were staring at the receiver, they're going to faceguard.

"Andre did a great job setting that up going for the ball. We knew that was was going to do that."

Cunningham opposed that claim, although conceded that Bentley had to turn his head eventually on the play.

"It's not what you look at, it's where you end up position-wise," Cunningham said. "And Bill was in tough position, and the free safety didn't help him either."

Veteran Detroit cornerback Rashean Mathis didn't say whether he agreed or disagreed with Palmer -- only that Palmer earned the right to talk by winning the game.

"They won the ballgame, so they can make statements like that," he said. "I tend to keep my mouth shut on stuff like that, but if they didn't win the game, nothing would have been said. Statements are made, and when you're in position to make statements, kudos to you."